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Guide to A Level Results DayTSR Wiki > University > Applying to University > Guide to A Level Results Day What to do on Results DaySo, you wake up bright and early on the morning of August 18th (the 4th if you're in Scotland). After you've had your breakfast, you set off out to collect your results. But hang on, you need to take a few things with you!
I strongly advise buying a copy of The Telegraph before you get your results. The Telegraph is the official newspaper which will publish the vacancies available in Clearing this year (2011 entry), although other newspapers may publish smaller regional guides or run adverts for a specific university. The listings are also available online, but if you're entering Clearing it's actually more useful to browse through the newspaper version - you're more likely to notice similar or interesting courses that wont show up on the UCAS Course Search. Once you've opened your results, there are a few things that could happen. Try not to panic, no matter what happens to you. You've made your firm offer!Congratulations! Go and tell your friends. Phone your Auntie Mabel. Heck, even phone the BBC if you have to. But do not phone your first choice university unless they've asked you to confirm anything in advance. Leave the lines free for those who haven't met their offers and are panicking. UCAS Track may take a while to update, so don't be too concerned if it hasn't updated straight away. If it hasn't updated by Friday morning, phone the university to check everything is OK. The day Track shows your place is confirmed, UCAS will put your AS12 letter in the post. Read it carefully and follow the instructions. Some universities don't need you to do anything, but others do. The letter explains exactly what you are required to do. Either way, keep the letter safe, as you'll need it as proof for bank accounts and things like that. You can also read the TSR Freshers' Pack to check you haven't missed anything. The Adjustment PeriodIf you have met and exceeded the requirements for your firm offer, you can consider whether to look around for a place at a different university, usually one with higher entry requirements. This is called 'Adjustment' and is optional. Exceeding your offer means that you must meet and exceed the conditions that are stated in your firm choice offer (i.e. you have not exceeded your offer if you got a higher grade in a subject which is not part of your offer). So, if your firm offer is ABB and you get AAB then you are eligible for adjustment, but you are not eligible if you get ABC or ABBB. Further examples of eligibility for adjustment can be found on the UCAS website. If you do want to consider the Adjustment route, you need to first register through Track. Anyone who meets their conditional firm offer will have the option to register for adjustment through Track and it is down to you and the universities you approach to decide whether or not you are eligible. You will have up to five days from Results day, or the date on which your CF became UF (i.e. your conditional offer became unconditional), whichever is later, in which to negotiate an alternative offer. This time includes weekends, and in any case cannot be extended beyond 31st August. So, if your CF doesn't become UF until 29 August, you only have 2 days to look for another place and have this confirmed by the uni. While you are in Adjustment, your original firm choice place will be held for you. UCAS will not publish listings of courses available through adjustment and you will need to call individual universities and look at their own websites to look for adjustment places. Explain clearly that you are looking for places through adjustment, not clearing. If a university offers you a place through adjustment and you accept it, they will update the offer in Track and you will lose your original firm offer. Therefore, make sure you've thought it through and decided this is what you want to do before accepting an adjustment offer! They will also send you another AS12 letter in the post to confirm the place. If you don't receive any offers through adjustment, or you registered for adjustment accidentally, then after the 5 days have elapsed you will automatically be confirmed at your original firm choice. More information about Adjustment can be found here. You've missed your firm offerI hope you're not too disappointed. But never mind, there's still a chance they might accept you. First of all check UCAS Track. If Track says your place is 'Unconditional' then you're fine, relax, celebrate and leave the phone lines clear. If Track shows that you've been unsuccessful, you can't really do anything more. Most unis will not allow you to plead your case if they have already rejected you. With places so competitive, it's really only worth asking them to reconsider if you have new information to provide which the university will not be aware of, such as mitigating circumstances or if you just missed out on your grades by a few UMS marks. If you had any mitigating circumstances, then you should ideally get your school to notify the uni as soon as you read this, if you haven't already, or failing that call them up directly. Universities only receive module and overall grades, not UMS marks, so if you are only a couple of marks away from making your offer then it may be worth letting the university know to see if they will reconsider. If you missed your offer by some margin and are in clearing, then your time may be better spent talking to universities in clearing, rather than begging your firm/insurance choices to reconsider. If Track still shows your offer as conditional then you'll need to phone the university. The phone number for this may be listed on their website, or they might have sent it to you in advance; if you haven't got a special number then just phone their normal number. If they still haven't made a decision, ask them when they expect to decide and let them know about any information which may help your case, such as high module marks or missing out on your grades by just a few UMS marks. The universities are not supposed to keep people in limbo for too long, so if you think they are being unreasonable and causing you to miss out on places elsewhere then contact UCAS for advice. If your firm offer accepts you with your missed gradesCongratulations! That's it. You'll just need to go home and await your AS12 letter in a few days. You missed your firm offer, and they won't accept you with lower gradesWell, maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Don't be too sad because there are still plenty more options for going to uni somewhere else. If you meet your insurance offerThis is pretty much like for the first bit, really. You don't need to do anything further now. Again, this may take a while to update on UCAS Track. You may like to phone your insurance uni to clarify that you're going there, but you don't really need to. At some point you will need to change your student loan using the Change of Circumstances (CO1) form which can be downloaded here, but this can wait a few days so just go home and wait for your confirmation letter. You can also read the TSR Freshers' Pack to check you haven't missed anything. If you miss your insurance offerThen again check UCAS Track to see if you've been accepted with lower grades. If your insurance still says your offer is Conditional then they haven't decided yet - phone them up like you did your firm choice. They may still accept you with the lower grades. If they accept you, then that's great! If they don't, then you'll enter Clearing. You missed your firm or insurance offer but the uni has accepted you for a different courseThis will show up on Track as UCC - ie 'unconditional changed course' - with the new course code. You have five days to decide whether to accept this alternative or not. You will receive a letter from UCAS (the AS12C) which sets out what your options are, though you can accept or decline this offer on Track even if you haven't yet received the AS12C. If you decline the changed course offer, you will either go to your insurance (if applicable and they have accepted you) or into Clearing. If both your firm and insurance choices offer you a UCC offer, you can then choose between them, or decline both and go into Clearing. I want to defer my place!If you don't already hold a deferred offer, once you have had your place confirmed you can contact the uni directly and ask if they can defer you. Have some reasons handy (eg. what are you going to do in your gap year?) and it should be OK. It's best to do this as soon as you know you want to defer, but theoretically you can do it right up until the start date. Your university may not agree to this, although most will. If the university won't agree, then you have the option of withdrawing from UCAS for this year and reapplying. I don't want to go to university after allThere's lots of choice in Clearing, but maybe you just can't find the right course for you. Or maybe you want to have a gap year and resit a few units. Whatever the reason, you don't have to go to uni if you don't want to. I'm already holding an offer for this yearYou'll need to contact the uni and tell them that you don't want to go. You should also update your application in Track so that UCAS knows that you aren't going to uni this year. Remember if you do this you won't be able to use Clearing and will not end up at university anywhere. I've got a deferred place for next yearAgain, you must tell the uni. You cannot reapply through UCAS whilst holding a deferred place. Either fill in the AS12 slip to say that you won't be taking up your place, or contact UCAS by phone. I don't currently hold an offerIf you missed your firm and insurance offers and they're not accepting you, then this will apply. You'll automatically be entered into Clearing, should you wish to do that. But if you don't want to go, then you don't have to do anything. Just don't apply anywhere through Clearing and you won't be going. If you want to officially withdraw from the UCAS scheme, you can do so. Simply use the withdraw button on UCAS Track. A note about remarksIf you think your results look a bit odd you may wish to send some units back for re-marking. There is a charge for this, although sometimes your school will pay; if your overall grade does change then the fees get refunded. However, remember your grades can go down as well as up! You should discuss whether to ask for a re-mark with your teacher first, as they may think that you did deserve the results you got. If you've missed your offer, you will need to tell the uni that you are having a re-mark when you phone them, and you will need to apply for a priority re-mark. If you only choose a standard re-mark, then it will take too long, as you need to meet the conditions of your offer (even if it is for a deferred place) by 31 August. Some unis may accept you if your re-mark results come back later than that, provided you told them in advance. Ask when you phone them if they are willing to hold your place for you while you wait for the re-mark, and if possible get them to confirm their deadline date in writing to you. If you wish to have re-marks of some of your units but have still been accepted at your university of choice then ask for a standard re-mark, not a priority re-mark. Leave this system free for those who really need it! Also See |
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